Top 7 Castles around Semiana

Sartirana beautiful castle, a pity about the cars parked in front

This old castle in Pieve di Cairo is now also an agriturismo with rooms for rent. Our day's journey isn't over yet, otherwise we would have tried to stay here overnight. https://www.castellobeccaria.it/

A well-known building in Lomellina, thanks also to its use as the seat of the "Mondo X" community a few decades ago, it dates back to the 11th century, making it one of the oldest fortified buildings in the area. However, it was then completely transformed, or even rebuilt, in the Visconti era, more precisely around 1350. The addition, or at least the arrangement, of the ravelin, on the other hand, almost certainly dates back to the Sforza period (1467). On the course of the Sesia, Cozzo was endowed with a strong castle, rebuilt by the Milanese in 1214 and rebuilt in the 15th century, when it became the possession of the Gallarati family. On this occasion it was equipped with two drawbridges, a high tower, a Ghibelline battlements, which still crown the building, and numerous internal embellishments such as terracotta moldings and graffiti frescoes. The works were not yet finished when, in September 1499, the castle even hosted the King of France Louis XII, who led his army towards Milan. The event is also remembered in an internal fresco.

The history of the Castle can be summarized as follows: built towards the end of the 1300s by order of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, it was strengthened towards the end of the 1400s by the Sforza family who, in the meantime, had conquered power. The Sforza family added other parts to the main body, which remained so until the sixteenth century, a time when the Castle, by the Gattinara family, was transformed into a comfortable residence, which has not undergone substantial changes to this day. Typical quadrilateral layout, with moat, internal courtyard and four corner towers. The castle is the main attraction of the village and currently houses the "Lomellina Study and Documentation Center", the "Sartirana Arte Foundation", with the museums of collections of silver, jewels, objects of peasant culture, art graphics. Both the Study Center and the Foundation organize numerous exhibitions and cultural events at an international level. In 1462-1463 under the Sforza, the Castle underwent military transformations of expansion and consolidation of the round tower, which was dealt with by the famous architect Bartolomeo Fioravanti, the same that Ivan II, Tsar of Russia, called to his court to the construction of the Kremlin defenses. Sartirana and its castle then passed to the Spaniards with Mercurino Arborio (cardinal) until his death in 1530. The castle belonged to the Arborio dynasty until 1934, and then to the Duke of Aosta Amedeo di Savoia.

One of the largest in the province of Pavia, the Beccaria Castle, which still bears the name of one of the first families who lived there, stands out in the Lomellino and Pavia landscape for its unusual size. It is an example of great historical and architectural interest because, in the superimposition of forms, from the original remains of the 12th century to the Visconti buildings, from the baroque to the neoclassical innovations, it represents a magnificent example of architectural languages that have harmoniously merged over the centuries , in the rich context of the Lomellina countryside. The Beccaria castle keeps intact the structure that has gone through centuries and troubles and which has seen it protagonist of important historical events from the Middle Ages to the present day.

This fountain is located in the municipality of Semiana Lomellina, formerly called Salviana, its name derives from the Salvj people, coming from Provence, who founded it. To see in this small municipality there is an old manor house, there are some remains of a tower on the south side. Unfortunately the building is in a pitiful state of abandonment, without fixtures, with a damaged roof and a wing already collapsed. The parish church of Saints Ippolito and Cassiano dates back to around 1500.

The building has significant elements that are still clearly visible today, such as the tower located at the entrance, the drawbridge and the moat; tower and moat date back to 1450.

Fountain hidden under the castle tower.